


Fire

by brcwnstars



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Native American, Native American Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Romance, X-men - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 02:11:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19802596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brcwnstars/pseuds/brcwnstars
Summary: Nathan Leaf, Danielle Moonstar, and William Talltrees joined an Indigenous mutant squad to stop an evil force that threatens to destroy a community they love. However, can this trio of outsiders put aside their differences and work together as a team? Especially since they're dealing with problems of their own.





	Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!

"You excited to see your boyfriend?" Leah teased as she stopped at the four-way. 

Nathan shook his head at his best friend. Oh, god, not this conversation again. Harvey was not his boyfriend. He was just a friend - a really good friend. A friend that held his hand and stroked his cheek. 

"Shut up!" Nathan flicked a Cheeto at her but missed. "He's not my boyfriend. He's just a really good friend of mine."

"Friends don't kiss or dry hump each other," Leah stated. 

"Um, we do not dry hump each other," He countered.

"That's what it looked like the other night at Trey's party. You were guys were practically getting it on in the living room." 

"Not even!" Nathan denied. "You're such a liar! We were just cuddling." 

"You can call it whatever you want, but what you were doing was not cuddling." 

Leah turned to her left as soon as the light turned green. They were heading to the Yo! park where he was going to hang out with Harvey. He was eager to see him. Especially after the day he had. The closer they got to the park, the giddier he was. He couldn't help it. How can he not be excited to see Harvey? It'd been a week since they were together. 

But there was something else he felt - a nervous, ominous feeling he couldn't quite shake off. It was the kind of feeling you'd get when you see a dark cloud or a raven or a fog. The feeling only intensified when they drove through town. When they passed by Big Bats, the local gas station-slash-mini-mart, it was pretty much dead except for a lone homeless man by the entrance. The parking lot in front of the tribal office building that was always littered with cars was empty. And along the way, he did not see one kid riding their bike. This was strange because it was six o'clock on Friday in the middle of July. This was usually the busiest time of the day - tribal employers were rushing to get home, people were waiting in line to get gas at Big Bats, and there were hordes of people on every block. Was there a big event going on or something? He wondered as he scratched his chin. 

Whatever, he thought. He was probably just overthinking it. People were probably too broke or too drunk to do anything. It wasn't like there was a list of things you could do on the rez. The closest thing to entertainment they had all summer was a Christian concert their local church put on in June. 

As the park came into view, Nathan's attention shifted to Harvey. He drummed his fingers along the armrest and jiggled his left leg in anticipation. He was going to see Harvey and he couldn't wait. He was legit about to burst out of Leah's car like a bottle rocket. He could make out Harvey in the distance. Yes! He was here. When Leah parked in front of the skatepark, Nathan was already out of the car. 

"Thanks for the ride!" Nathan said. 

He slammed the car door. Before he had a chance to take another step, he heard Leah called his name. He poked his head inside the car and said, "What?"

"Be careful, okay?" Leah said, her face marred with concern.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He loved Leah, he really did, but she tended to act like a mother instead of a best friend. It was annoying.

"Why?" Nathan asked.

Leah leaned closer as if she was about to share a secret with him. "They said they saw the Blood Dogs down by the school. I saw it on Facebook."

He chuckled.

"I'm being serious, stupid!" Leah spits out, her cheeks turning red. "Why you are laughing? The Blood Dogs are dangerous! You remember what they did to my cousin Ben, right?"

How could he forget? The image of Ben with two black eyes, a crooked nose, and a busted lip was etched into his mind. Ben was walking late at night when the Blood Dogs ambushed him out of nowhere and dragged him to an abandoned house. Each member of the Blood Dogs took a turn beating him up with a steel bat. Ben was beaten up so badly he had to spend three months in the hospital to recover from his injuries.

"Now you be careful, okay?" Leah said, wagging a finger covered in Hot Cheetos dust at him.

He bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from laughing at her. Leah was twenty-one, but right now, she didn't look like it. She looked like somebody's auntie: her glasses hung on the tip of her nose, her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and to top it off, she wore an oversized pink sweater with the slogan OST Police Services across it. 

"I promise." Nathan held one hand up. 

"...And I don't want you staying out late!"

He grabbed his iPhone from his back pocket and snapped a photo of Leah in mid-conversation. He grinned at the image on his screen: Leah's eyes were closed halfway and her mouth was wide open. Oh, yeah. He was going to post this on Facebook as soon as his iPhone gets a Wifi connection. He was already thinking of the countless memes he could make out of this.

"Are you listening to me?"

Leah's shrill voice brought him back to reality.

"Yes!" Nathan tore his eyes from his iPhone and raised his hand again. "I promise I won't be out late."

"You didn't hear a thing I said?" Leah shot him a look.

"Nope!" Nathan shrugged. "But you know that I love you!" 

He waved at Leah but she already had her back turned, pulling out of the park, clearly frustrated with his attitude. Nathan appreciated Leah's warning, but she needed to realize that nothing bad was going to happen. She worried too much. The last time the Blood Dogs did anything bad was three months ago and since then, nothing serious happened.

When Nathan turned to the park he was surprised to see Harvey was the only one there. Where was everyone? He glanced at his wrist - it was only six twenty-five. Hmm, this was weird. There was usually a group of guys playing ball at the basketball court or kids attempting to do an ollie at the skatepark. Or girls exchanging gossip like trading cards at the picnic tables. The only proof that there were people there was an abandoned basketball rolling down the court. If this was any other night, he'd waved Leah down and head back home. But the sight of Harvey made him forget whatever worries he had. 

There, perched atop a picnic table, was Harvey. All six feet of him, looking gorgeous in his black Champion hoodie and faded blue jeans. His black hair was slicked back with an undercut, showing off his beautifully sculpted features. Nathan's heart fluttered in his chest. How could a guy like him be so lucky to get someone like Harvey? It was something else. 

When Harvey motioned for him to come over, Nathan sprinted as fast he could in his beat-up Nike sneakers.

As Nathan crossed the skatepark, he thought about the shitty day he had. It all started with this recurring dream he's been having the past couple of months. It's always the same. In it, a boy who looks exactly like him stands on a highway with a semi-truck approaching him. The driver is honking his horn, warning his lookalike to get out of the way, but he doesn't move. Not even once. He stands there with a determined expression on his face. What happens next still shocks Nathan. As the semi-truck is about to hit his lookalike, he raises his arm with his palm out and these purple-like things swirl around his wrists like smoke. He then lifts the whole semi-truck in the air like it didn't weight eighty thousand pounds, and pulls it apart from the middle like it was nothing. Nathan was stunned. Just how could his lookalike do such a thing? That's when his dream turned into a nightmare. His lookalike sees him and says the following, "You're a mutant, Nathan. Embrace it." 

He didn't have time to react in the dream because his alarm clock shook him out of it. He woke up and that's when he realized he was for late work. As soon as he walked through the doors, his boss chewed him out and threaten to fire him the next time he was late. Nathan was fuming. His boss was being unfair. He was only late once, it's not like this was an everyday thing. His day went from bad to worse when he pants ripped when he picked up a box of teabags an old lady drop. He didn't notice it until he felt a breeze against the back of his thighs. He was so embarrassed. 

He thought his bad day would end when he'd come back home but it just continued. Before he turned the doorknob, he heard his parents screaming at each other inside. This time it wasn't about his father's wandering eye, but about him gambling away his paycheck at the casino. Nathan didn't know how long he could put up with his parents' fighting - they were becoming a daily thing. His father messes up and his mother gets mad at him. Rinse and repeat. Before, he could easily drown out their arguments with music, but even that wasn't enough. 

So, when Harvey sent him a text message and asked him to meet up with him at the park, Nathan called Leah as soon as he could. He needed an excuse to get out of the house - not that he needed an excuse to hang out with Harvey. He was always down for that. 

"Hey," Harvey said in that deep voice of his when Nathan reached him. 

"Hey!" Nathan wheezed, trying to catch his breath. Harvey smiled at him and just like that, his moody instantly lifted.

It was as if the bad day that followed Nathan like a shallow vanished as soon as it saw Harvey's light. 

"Whatchu doing standing there? Come over and give me a hug!" Harvey demanded with a light chuckle. 

Harvey pulled Nathan in his arms and he succumbed. He snuggled against Harvey's chest and sighed contentedly. The warmth of his embrace and the scent of his minty deodorant made his knees weak. When Harvey held him like this, he felt the world around him fade away. It was like he entered another world where Harvey and he were the only living souls that occupied it. The stress of their lives nothing more than a distant memory. He wished he could stay in Harvey's arm forever. 

"How was your day?" Harvey asked, breaking Nathan out of his reverie. 

The shadow returned, buzzing around him like an annoying bug. "It was bad," Nathan grimaced. 

"No shit, why?" 

Nathan hid his face in Harvey's chest. Did he have to talk about it? He just wanted to forget about it and rest in Harvey's strong arms. But what else would they talk about? It wasn't like Harvey was a talker; he was more of the silent type. 

He looked up at Harvey and grumbled, "Where to start?" 

"I don't know." Harvey shrugged. 

"Oh! How about the fact that I overslept and was late for work," Nathan whined. He decided to leave out the dream he had this morning. There was no need to tell Harvey about it. He didn't want to put any worries in his head. "My boss, you know, Sam, right?"

"Yeah, doesn't his mom run the burger joint?"

"Yeah, anyway he was not happy about it. He said he's going to fire me the next time I'm late for work. It's ridiculous. I was late once. It's not like this is a recurring thing, you know?" 

"Next time you see him, tell him I'll kick his ass if he fires you," Harvey warned. 

"I wouldn't mind that," Nathan giggled. "But I'd be out of a job and you'd be sitting in jail." 

"Well, when I get out of it, I'll find a job and support us both." 

"You're too sweet." Nathan nuzzled his neck. He then remembered the incident with his pants and groaned. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I ripped my pants."

"Wait - what?" Harvey frowned. "Where?"

"At work," Nathan answered. "When I went to go grab this box of teabags this old lady drop, my pants ripped. I didn't know until I felt a breeze against the back of my thighs."

Harvey snickered.

"Hey!" Nathan playfully smacked Harvey on the shoulder. "Don't laugh at me - it's not funny."

"I'm sorry, baby, but it is." The snickering continued, which only made Nathan grow red.

"It's not funny!" Nathan chided, smacking Harvey again, but harder.

"Did anyone see your ass?" Harvey asked, doubled over in laughter.

"No! No one saw my ass!" Nathan lied.

He burned with embarrassment. He wasn't about to let Harvey know that people did, in fact, see his butt. He did not want to give him any more reason to laugh at him.

"Would you stop it?" 

Nathan squeezed his hands into fists. Ugh. Why did Harvey have to be such a dickhead about it? Couldn't he pretend it wasn't funny for the sake of his feelings? He was a little sensitive today. The last thing he needed was Harvey taking pleasure in humiliation. If he knew he'd do this, he wouldn't told him. 

"It's not that funny," Nathan said, slapping Harvey's back.

But his attempts to stop Harvey laughing from at him prove to be futile when he doubled again in laughter. Nathan was pretty sure his face was the color of a fire hydrant. Harvey then fell to the ground with legs out. His eyes brimmed with tears of delight. He rolled to his side and held his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath. 

Nathan threw his hands up. That was it. He had enough of Harvey's laughing. He fished his iPhone out of his pocket and dialed Leah's number. He stepped over Harvey and stormed off.

"Hey - wait! Where you going?" He heard Harvey asked, but he didn't answer. He kept walking. Let him feel bad. Maybe he'll apologize to him.

"Baby, where you going?" Harvey cleared his throat, the sound of his sneakers hitting the dirt rang behind him.

But Nathan didn't stop. He was giving him the silent treatment because he was petty like that. If it was possible, he'd make Harvey pay. But how? He could shave his eyebrow while he was sleeping. But it'd pain Nathan to get rid of Harvey's perfect brows. Put hot sauce in his drink? That sounds nice. Yeah, he'll do that. It'd be funny, though, if Harvey ripped his pants. Or at least fall. Maybe a little trip would humble him and make him feel guilty for laughing at Nathan's troubles. 

He waited for Leah to pick up the phone. It was still ringing. God, what was taking her so long? She always had her phone by her side. He was about to hang up when Leah answered, "Hello!"

Just before Nathan could say anything, he heard Harvey say, "Oof!"

He craned his neck to find Harvey on his back. Oh shit. 

"I'll call you later, Leah!" Nathan hung up and ran to Harvey. He knelt and cradle Harvey's head onto his lap. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he grunted.

"What happened?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know. I was following you one second and then all of a sudden I was off my feet and on my back. It's weird because I didn't trip on anything."

It was true. There no hole, no banana peel or rock that could've made him fall. 

Nathan looked at his hands and wondered if his dream was true. He wished Harvey could fall a minute ago. Maybe he did it? He closed his eyes and shook his head. He scolded himself for thinking like that. What was wrong with him? It was just a dream. That's all it was - it didn't mean he was a mutant. There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Maybe Harvey was probably laughing so hard he tripped on his own feet? Yeah, that sounds plausible. 

"Well, that's what you get for laughing at me!" Nathan smacked his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry, baby. Can you please forgive me?" Harvey pushed out his bottom lip. 

"Oh, god! Please don't make that face!" Nathan shielded his eyes, but that only made things worse. 

"Please forgive me!" Harvey leaned closer to Nathan to the point where he couldn't ignore him. 

Ugh. He didn't want to give in; he wanted to draw this out a little longer to make Harvey feel bad. He was still mad at Harvey for laughing at him. He peeked through his fingers at Harvey and he snorted at the exaggerated look on his face. He looked like an upset baby. Okay, how can he be mad at a face like that? 

"Fine," Nathan sighed. 

"Yes!" Harvey raised his fist proudly in the air. 

"Ugh - you're annoying." 

"I shouldn't have laughed at you," Harvey said as he lifted himself. Nathan followed and brushed the dirt off his pants. 

"No, it's me. I was being overly sensitive. It's one of my biggest flaws," Nathan admitted. 

"One of?" Harvey raised a brow. 

"Okay, it's my biggest flaw!" Nathan yelled, shoulders slumped. "I hate you!"

"I love you!" Harvey declared.

Nathan gasped. He didn't know what to say. Was he serious? He never heard Harvey utter those three words before. Why now? Especially in the middle of a frivolous conversation like this. But Harvey didn't say anything else. He just smiled at him and extended his hand. Nathan grabbed it and Harvey led him to the picnic table by the basketball court. They both sat down and looked everywhere but at each other.

Nathan pulled the zipper to his sweater up and down. Okay, this was awkward. Nathan thought. He wanted to say, "I love you" back to Harvey, but he didn't know if he being serious or not. Harvey wasn't the type of guy to talk about his feelings. He usually kept to himself, only revealing bits and pieces of his life. It wasn't until recently that he learned Harvey was adopted. His mother gave him up when he was a newborn and his father was never in the picture. He could tell it was hard for Harvey to admit that. He wondered what went on in that head of his. 

After what seemed like forever, Nathan was the first to break the silence. "So, I'm happy."

Harvey looked at him with a surprised expression. "Why?"

"Because I have you, silly," Nathan poked Harvey in the ribs.

"You're so corny, you know that?"

"Why are you so allergic to emotions?" Nathan asked with a grin, making sure to keep his tone light. "You could say just say I'm happy, too."

Harvey snorted and played with the string on his hoodie. 

Nathan resigned. Okay, he was going to stop trying to drag any kind of emotions out of Harvey for the night. It was clear he wasn't going to start acting all soft and mushy.

He leaned back against the table and looked around. They were still the only two people in the park. There was not one group of people or cars that came. Where was everyone? The only sign that there was life nearby were houses across from the baseball park. Even then, the houses seemed vacant and empty. This was odd. It was a Saturday night in the middle of July. This is usually the busiest time at the park. People didn't leave until one o'clock in the morning. Huh. Maybe Leah was right. Maybe the Blood Dogs were out and about and people were hiding until they disappeared. 

"Hey," Harvey said, interrupting Nathan's thoughts, "turn around and look at me."

Nathan shifted his body; he put one leg on the right of the bench and the other leg on the left. He was facing Harvey now. 

"I wanna say something serious to you," Harvey said, hands in the pocket of his hoodie. 

"Okay." Nathan nodded. 

Harvey's brows drew together. Was he going to say, "I love you" again? Nathan hoped; it'd surely make his night. They have been seeing each other on and off for the past five months and he was hoping one day Harvey would commit. Nathan hadn't met a guy like Harvey. Unlike the other guys before him, Harvey was chill, sweet (well when he wanted to be), and was a great listener. He could rant to him for hours and it seemed like Harvey never got tired of hearing him talk. He liked that. They sat in silence, but this time it wasn't awkward. 

After a minute, Harvey looked up, gazed into Nathan's eyes and grabbed his hands. Nathan smiled. Ohmigod! Was he going to say it? Nathan cleared his throat. He was going to say, "I love you, too" as soon the words left Harvey's mouth. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he waited with bated breath. 

"You're the peanut butter to my jelly," Harvey said with the most serious expression on his face.

"What?" Nathan exclaimed.

Harvey broke out in laughter. Was he serious? Nathan slapped his palm against his forehead. Why did he think Harvey was ever going to be serious? He was so stupid to think he was going to say "I love you." 

"Come on, don't be mad at me," Harvey said. "You know that's my way of showing my love for you."

"Really?" Nathan's face hardened. "You sure have a funny way of showing it." 

Nathan wanted to leave now. He didn't feel like hanging out with Harvey anymore. His mood has been ruined. 

"Yes," Harvey chuckled, caressing Nathan's hands. "But I have another way of showing my love for you." 

Nathan wondered what he meant until Harvey pulled him closer to him. Before he could say anything, Harvey began stroking his cheek with his hand. Nathan shivered at his touch. His hands were soft and warm. Harvey then moved his hand to Nathan's long hair and pushed a lock of it behind his ear. Nathan's lips parted at the sight of Harvey's face. Wow. Even underneath this terrible orange lighting, Harvey still looked as handsome as ever. With his high cheekbones, clear brown skin, and sharp jawline - he could easily grace the cover of GQ magazine or pose in a Calvin Klein ad.

Staring into his eyes, Harvey titled his face and leaned closer. Nathan's eyes grew big and he moved his head backward. He gripped both sides of the bench, praying his heart wouldn't jump out of his chest and ruin this tender moment. Oh, no. Harvey is going for a kiss. Did his breath smell? Did he forget to wear deodorant? Did he have a pimple near his chin? All these worries popped into his head as Harvey got closer. He wished he could press pause and smell his breath, sniff his pits, and look in the mirror for any sign of acne before he'd let Harvey kiss him. 

He wanted to run away but stopped himself.

Ugh. Why was he being such a coward? He wanted to kick himself for overanalyzing every single thing. Why did he let his inner critic do this to him? It has happened way too many times before. But tonight, he wasn't going to let it ruin what should be a sweet moment between Harvey and him. Nathan then closed his eyes and open them again, trying to blink away his worries. He shifted his focus to Harvey's lips; they were full and perfect. They were the kind of lips people tried to get through cosmetic surgery, but couldn't because no surgeon could recreate his perfect lips.

He took a deep breath and he felt his nerves go away. He moved his head forward and shut his eyes again.

When Harvey pressed his lips against Nathan's, it felt like a wave of electricity shot right through him. For someone rough around the edges, Harvey's kisses were soft and gentle, not messy or sloppy like the guys he kissed before. He liked that Harvey took his time and didn't rush into it. Harvey wrapped an arm around Nathan's waist and tugged him against him to the point where their chests were pressed together. Nathan's brows shot up. Okay, so Harvey wasn't afraid to be aggressive. He liked that.

Nathan didn't want Harvey to do all the work or give him the intention that he didn't want to touch him. Nathan wanted to touch him - it was just that he was too nervous to do it. He didn't want to turn this intimate moment into an awkward one by doing something wrong. But how was he ever going to know what turned Harvey on if he didn't at least try? So, Nathan bravely raised his hand and touched the nape of Harvey's neck and allowed himself to be swept up. Harvey responded by sliding fingers gently down Nathan's back.

"Aw, isn't that sweet. It's like a scene straight out of a gay Nicholas Sparks movie," A feminine voice spoke up.


End file.
